Brits Spend 14 Years Of Their Life On A Diet, Survey Claims

22/05/2012 16:44

Kyrsty Hazell
The Huffington Post UK

If your ‘diet starts on Monday’ mantra has failed you on many occasions and those good intentions of detoxing go down the toilet when your mid-afternoon chocolate craving trumps your homemade carrot stick and celery combo - you’re not alone.

In fact, you’re in good company as Brits spend 14 years of their life trying to (and failing) to stick to a diet.

According to a survey of 2,000 people by Philips, yo-yo dieters of Britain spend between four to five months a year counting calories and obsessing over each mouthful.

The study also predicts that in the future, one in 10 women will spend even more years of their lives dieting (up to 18 years in total) as they become more determined to shed the weight.

While one in four people admit that images of super svelte celebrities make them want to diet, 66% revealed that it’s the thought of wearing skimpier clothes in the summer that motivate them to get into shape.

And it’s not just women who dread revealing all in a bikini or strapless tops when the weather heats up – the study also discovered a growing trend of male dieters who spend around two to three months a year trying to lose weight in time for summer.

Men are also much more likely to stick to their diet plan, as only one in four ditch their diet earlier than planned compared to one in three women, who fall off the wagon before they’ve reached their target weight.

The biggest reasons why dieters gave up on their healthy eating plan was boredom (32%) and lack of discipline (21%).

Diet & nutrition expert Rachael Anne Hill told HuffPost Lifestyle: “It’s clear that the arrival of spring also brings pressure for people to shape up for summer. People would be much better adopting a healthy lifestyle all year round, without concentrating their efforts on a few select months.”